High-end fashion is viewed as the preserve of the rich and famous 鈥� but听别苍迟谤别辫谤别苍别耻谤听Sojin听Lee is on a mission to take it mass market.听
Lee听knows a thing or two about the fashion industry.听Following听analyst听and commercial roles at luxury brands including Chanel, she would spend more than seven years as a founding member at eCommerce fashion trailblazer Net-a-Porter.听
鈥淓arly on I understood听how to use data to have a bigger impact on sales and conversion.听That’s where I got my fascination: selling is not just an art of creating beautiful products; it听is very database–听and metric–based and derived on consumer behaviour,鈥� she reflects to听老九品茶Cloud.听
“I听had an amazing opportunity to build Net-a-Porter from day one.听We had a different viewpoint: making听it look like a magazine bred familiarity听with consumers.听
鈥淏ut building Net-a-Porter wasn’t just about revolutionising听content online:听it was about听distribution capabilities and the scalability and the reach of听eCommerce.鈥�听
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With an ambition to merge fashion,听entertainment, content and commerce, Lee – who will speak at our free virtual event on fashion tech (click above to register) – founded platform Fashionair听in 2009 with pop mogul Simon Fuller, former manager of the Spice Girls.听
The venture听closed down听after a year听and Lee took up strategic investment听and eCommerce consultancy听roles for several years until听launching TOSHI in 2017.听
鈥淚t was a no-brainer to look at what Will Shu had done with Deliveroo and what Matt Maloney had done with听GrubHub,鈥�听says Lee. 鈥淎ll听these on-demand businesses were听using听technology听to democratise听access to听product;听enhancing and connecting听pre–existing听consumer behaviour in a听more seamless and relevant听way.听
“I just thought it was ironic that it didn’t exist for fashion,听considering it’s a commodity that lends itself so well to this type of behaviour.鈥�听
TOSHI听aims to bring the听service听customers might expect in a听luxury boutique to their home environment,听at a time that suits them.听
A network of stylists听with several sizing options are trained听to听fit clothing,听measure for adjustments,听immediately return unwanted products听and provide styling recommendations.听
However听the 鈥榗entral brain鈥� of TOSHI, as Lee puts it,听is the data and听CRM opportunities听which drive听higher revenues, increased听average order values and听reduction in returns.听
鈥�If you go to a luxury brand,听they offer this type of service to their top VIPs. But in our heads, it was like,听鈥榳hy can you only offer it to 50 people? This should just be a normal way of shopping鈥�.听
鈥淭丑别y are complementary services: if you want to be immersed in the world of that luxury brand, absolutely do so because you’ll never be able replicate that outside of those boutiques.听
鈥淏ut if you want access to products and you’ve got beautiful content online that gives you a flavour of the brand, visuals, imagery, we’re bridging the gap between the two.听听
鈥淚t’s not enough just to invest half a million pounds into a beautiful website because at the end of the day, it still triggers a brown box delivered by a lovely gentleman in a brown vest.鈥�听
TOSHI, which employs 25 people 鈥� not including the network of stylists 鈥� is backed by 12 high-profile private investors, including GrubHub CEO Maloney. It is planning a further round of funding.听
On track to break even next year, it projects GMV of 拢59m in 2022 and 拢150m the following year.听
Lee was joined recently by chief commercial officer Paul O鈥橰egan, the former CEO of womenswear fashion brand Galvan with PR and marketing experience at Ralph Lauren, Gucci, AllSaints听and听Burberry.听
鈥淒espite the fact that听it likes to consider itself an innovative industry, a creative industry, luxury is actually quite slow to adopt things,鈥� he says. 鈥淪peaking as someone who worked with these brands for many years, commerciality was a dirty word.听听
鈥淭丑别re’s this sort of smoke and mirrors thing where, if you are 拢500 million or a billion dollars in revenue,听you’re听mass market: by definition, you have to be commercial.鈥�听
TOSHI works with more than 30 partner brand websites and retail stores. Its听client list includes Chanel, Christian Louboutin, Erdem, Huntsman, Christopher Kane, Roland Mouret, Galvan and The Webster NY.听Lee says it is now听onboarding three or four major brands every month.听
Chanel, for example, has seven boutiques in London and an eCommerce site that only features eyewear and offers a concierge service called Chanel Concierge, supported by TOSHI.
In order to service听the 鈥�last mile to last metre鈥�, brands are adopting听鈥�micro–warehousing鈥� to ensure the products are听close to the customers.听鈥淭丑别听first step听[of TOSHI]听was to go to all the brands and say听鈥�your stores are your warehouses鈥�,” explains Lee.听鈥�You need to activate them into that kind of behaviour听to听become a part of on–demand听service economy… and generate a听ROI on the听rent that you pay,听which is astronomic.听
鈥�I believe that supply chain and logistics is听like the veins that carry blood: without it, we’re just听gonna听fall apart as an industry.听My intention is to revolutionise the language of logistics听to听fit the mechanics of the full user journey, so brands听don鈥檛 hand their products听off to听someone else [to deliver].鈥�听
The majority of TOSHI鈥檚 target market is situated close to the major cities of the world. Having听launched听in London and New York,听it听plans to open additional offices including听Paris,听Los Angeles, Dallas, Toronto, Milan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Sao Paolo in the next two to three years.听
Some of these retail destinations rely on tourism for more than 50 per cent of their revenue, according to the duo. They say the听devastating听impact of COVID-19 on retail and major city centres has听slowed expansion while听conversely听accelerating the business.听
鈥�New York has been more impacted at the store level between COVID听and听the BLM听(Black Lives Matter)听marches,鈥� acknowledges Lee.听鈥�A lot of the stores were looted听and听some of them,听in downtown specifically,听only started opening听again recently.鈥�听
O鈥橰egan adds:听鈥�50% of the traffic just got wiped out 鈥� and the other 50% is reluctant to go into the store and deal with things like changing rooms.听Everyone appreciated the opportunity [for a remote concierge service] before it became crystallised during COVID.听听
鈥淔or a lot of smaller brands, who are a lot more forward-thinking, this is a way of actually surviving and driving strong store revenue in an empty vacuum of no traffic.鈥�听
Challenged with one tech commentator鈥檚 prediction that Oxford Street faces a bleak future, Lee is adamant that the听shopping mecca听will bounce back.听
鈥�Is there depression in demand versus supply for Oxford Street today? Yes. Do I think that will last past the next 18 months? No, I do not听–听because听I don’t think human nature continues this way.听听
鈥�We’ll听have to听come back and find some sort of balance, but Oxford Street is听not听gonna听be boarded up and shuttered down.听Will听central London die听suddenly?听It’s never going to happen.听
鈥�Every 25 years, a correction comes along. So now it’s forcing businesses to look at the total market and say:听鈥�What should I be doing to ensure that I am relevant听–听and听be agile enough to morph with that relevance?鈥�听听
鈥�I think it’s really important for any business, no matter how small you are, to听keep a budget听for听innovation and听R&D;听otherwise, you’ll end up like a sitting duck at some point.鈥�听